COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia Fireflies are looking forward to welcoming fans back to the ballpark when the season gets underway next month.
Last year, the Columbia Fireflies were unable to have a season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Minor League Baseball made the announcement late June of 2020. The Major League said it would not provide players to all farm league teams across the country.
John Kocsis, Broadcast and Media Relations Manger for the Fireflies, says they're excited for the start of the 2021 season in May.
"It's been a really long time, right? This has been baseball's longest winter. I feel like we've got some really cool surprises coming up for you guys once the season finally gets underway," said Kocsis.
May 11th will mark the first game at Segra Park in over a year.
"It's going to be nice to have fans at Segra Park for our baseball games because, you know, last year we had a couple of the Legion League and high school games, and that's really fun, but we love bringing Fireflies Baseball into this community," Kocsis said.
During the offseason, the team didn't know if they would start on time, when they would start and what it would look like from a fan perspective.
"Luckily, the vaccine has been rolling out well and virus rates have been going down, and it's looking like we're going to be fortunate enough to be able to start in May, and to have a decent crowd there as well," said Kocsis.
At this time, the team doesn't know exactly how many fans will be allowed at the games. They're working on finalizing plans and will provide additional information in the coming weeks.
There will be social distancing, hand sanitizing stations, fans wearing masks and employees handling food will be wearing masks and gloves.
"We're trying to make sure everything is as safe as possible because it's not just about having the community at the game, it's about making sure that the community can feel safe, and it's making sure that the community can actually be safe and not have to worry about contracting the virus," Kocsis explained.
The team says they'll be posting more information about tickets on columbiafireflies.com in the near future.